Fairfax County needs to move further away from a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing homelessness, local supervisors were told last Tuesday (Oct. 6).
At a meeting of its housing committee, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors reviewed a draft revision to the Homelessness Strategic Plan, which is undergoing its first major update in nearly two decades.
Despite a relatively stable year-over-year homelessness count in new data, Fairfax County’s level of those experiencing chronic homelessness ticked up more substantially between 2025 and 2026.
A total of 302 people were counted as chronically homeless in Fairfax County and the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church in this year’s Point-in-Time Survey, coordinated by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).
Fairfax County supervisors on Tuesday (April 14) unanimously approved the plan to build a new Penn Daw Fire Station, supportive housing and an emergency shelter facility on a 3.5-acre tract just east of Richmond Highway.
The approval marks a significant step forward in a capital project that has been in the works for more than a decade.
Fairfax County Planning Commission members gave their unanimous support on March 25 to a planned relocation of the Penn Daw Fire Station to a parcel that will also include supportive housing and an emergency shelter.
The plan, which will be considered by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on April 14, would put the new fire station and housing on a 3.5-acre site at 2801 Beacon Hill Road, one block east of Richmond Highway.
After losing a brother who experienced homelessness, Carter G. Woodson High School student Minn Vo became aware on a personal level of how vulnerable people without shelter can be — and how often they’re overlooked by society.
That was a call to action for Vo, who founded the nonprofit Hands in Hope to organize service projects and fundraise to benefit individuals experiencing homelessness in Fairfax County.
Leaders from across the D.C. region voted on Wednesday (Jan. 14) to ask Congress and the Trump administration to bring back predictability when it comes to funding homelessness response services at the local level.
“These programs provide critical support to thousands of our neighbors,” said Christine Hong, who chairs the Homeless Services Planning and Coordinating Committee of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).
Fairfax County has identified new operators for three of its homeless shelters after cutting ties with New Hope Housing in September.
The Fairfax City-based nonprofit Shelter House has taken over the Eleanor Kennedy Shelter (9155 Richmond Highway) in Fort Belvoir as well as Mondloch House and Place, an emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing site (3510 Lockheed Blvd) in Groveton.
A mix of pride and gratitude filled the voices of the government and nonprofit officials who spoke at a ceremonial groundbreaking yesterday (Monday) for Fairfax City’s latest housing project.
Speaker after speaker emphasized the array of contributors whose shared belief that housing should be a basic right, not a privilege, paved the road to construction for Beacon Landing, a 54-unit apartment building for people who are at risk of or experiencing chronic homelessness.
Fairfax County has cut ties with one of its homeless shelter providers in response to allegations of deteriorating conditions and mismanagement.
The Department of Housing and Community Development’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness (HCD OPEH) took control of Bailey’s Shelter & Supportive Housing, the Eleanor U. Kennedy Shelter in Fort Belvoir and other programs managed by New Hope Housing at the beginning of October after terminating its contract with the nonprofit on Sept. 30.
A supportive housing nonprofit based in Fairfax City plans to hit the road with a new mobile unit that will enable it to bring services directly to the people who need them.
Pathway Homes is aiming to launch the Mobile Outreach Unit (MOU) in the fourth quarter of 2025 after securing nearly $300,000 in grant funding for the program, CEO Sylisa Lambert-Woodard announced in a June press release.
